Toyota has added a 2.0 litre variant with sporty intentions to the Toyota Corolla Altis in Thailand and Indonesia called the 2.0V. It even has a new sportier mesh grille to complement the new more powerful engine under the hood.

Under the hood of this updated Altis is the 3ZR-FE which has Dual VVT-i which means variable valves on both the intake and exhaust. While more modern than the 1AZ-FE VVT-i found in the Camry, it’s still not the top of the range 2.0 litre from Toyota as the current crown is held by the 158 PS 3ZR-FAE with Valvematic continuous valve lift control, eliminating the need for a throttle butterfly.

The 3ZR-FE in the Altis 2.0V is tuned differently in different countries. In Indonesia it produces 152 PS at 5,600rpm and 21.2 kgm (I used a calculator and this translates to a whopping 208Nm!) of torque at 4,400rpm.

That’s actually some pretty impressive torque figures for a 2.0 litre engine as all of its competitors only produce roughly between 190Nm to 200Nm. In Thailand and Philippines the engine is somewhat detuned, producing only 141 PS at 5,600rpm and a more sedate 189Nm of torque at 4,400rpm.

What you’ll notice immediately when it comes to transmission is the addition of paddle shifts, but there are more changes underneath. The Altis 2.0V’s gear ratios are completely different from the 1.8 litre version. The Altis 1.8 gear ratios are 2.847, 1.552, and 1.000 for the first three gears and an overdrive of 0.700 with a final drive of 4.237, but the 2.0V uses revised ratios of 3.943, 2.197, 1.413 and finally a fourth gear ratio of 1.020 with no overdrive gear. But to make up for the new ratios, the final drive has been changed to 2.923.

Look after the jump for a photo gallery of the new Altis 2.0V.
[zenphotopress number=99 album=308]

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. An avid electronic gadget aficionado as well as big-time coffee lover, he's also the executive producer of the Driven motoring TV programme.

at last..dual vvti…but how abt the perice? unless umw revise the price for 1.8..sure it can compete with civic,sylphy and lancer..the 4 speed tranny? naah…just drive the car..later on we'll accept for what it is.

[quote comment="242186"]you can be sure that when it comes here, which i strongly believe it will, toyota will probably overprice it for the equipment it offers.

the altis 1,8 we have here is already pretty overpriced, compared to the offerings by Sylphy and Lancer. but of course, the badge appeal compensates for the so called "standard" offerings.

to really sell, i guess toyota can lower the price of the 1.8 to a more "realistic" level.[/quote]

AGREE, toyota & Honda malaysia are both smart!!!!!! what they have been offer are over price!! Their cars are not CBU but CKD..rite? but their salesman will never mentioned that word!

Y would nissan, mitsubishi, or even Peugeot can offer better pricing (comparing the same class)?? sure it is not their cars are cheaper. (just check thru the oversea car magz price list.e.g taiwan,HK…)

Simply bcos T & H, their cars can sell by itself here in malaysia! and this two 'giant' somehow i feel they have mutual aggrement?? they never compete with each other.. just let the customer choose, becos when ppl reach the stage to upgrade or grown up from local P1P2…the choice is always either Toyota or Honda

that's why what we get from T&H is always "empty" (in term of features, accessories!) i saw a lot of Civic and Altis in HK, China they all have sunroof)

Imagine, if Honda start to offer their Civic with MoonRoof or Leather Seat as standard specs, wat would Toyota react? will toyota just sit there doing nothing??

Once they compete more, the customer get more, and customer win..but now the fact is they win, they are the winner!!

Hey guys, start to opt for other car now..currently they are many choices when coming to buy a car.. not like 10 years ago.

i really sick of whenever stopping at the traffic light, u can always count the same cars of T & H queuing up. Vios side by side, Civic side by side..camry side by side.. sometimes 2 or 3 generation of the same family together……….

IS that LCD touchscreen GPS & ICE integrated display? I wonder Toyota will include it for Malaysia Market?? Usually they just change to Kenwood or Blaupunkt Radio… He he he… Just Stop Dreaming Boys… UMW if FPOC (Full Profit Oriented Company).

Yesterday my friend and his wife went to three dealerships, UMWT-Mitsu-Honda. He drove both the later and only sits inside the Altis 1.8 while telephone me. I said- You better test drive first before decide. He said-Nope thanks. From the interior design more than enough for me to judge this car. Simply too expensive for your hard-earned money and Toyota was too complacent to offer more for their prospects, even though l argued with him; the Altis feels better than the paper suggested in the real life.

Actually if many Altis' prospect share common feeling like my friend, UMWT will suffer. The only way now is; better better tranny with stop-start function to minimize gas usage and slightly lower. This taxi model simply expensive though inexpensive to maintain and very very reliable (as the result of older engine and tranny).

A much improved interior and amenities Altis1.6 should be less than RM95k; 1.8E not more than RM103k and 1.8G less than RM107k and 2.0 with dual VVTi TOD RM115k the most. Many will buy this Unclish car.

Migrate to US and get a 3.0 BMW 328i for RM117k (USD $33,600), cheaper than RM120k. Go to bmwusa.com and check yourself. Engineers there make USD55k per year starting on average, can buy new BMW cash after 1 year working.

Sheesh… dugong or not – this thing is totally designless, shapeless, amorphous and overpriced. Dun know how it handles but must be 'uncle-ish'. Can't compare between h-civic 2.0, m-lancer, different priorities. Maybe compare n-sylphy, if diehard japo. Any comments about korean stuff like k-optima or h-elantra or sonata? Yep, will take f-focus or p-407, if parts cheap.

Buyers patience has limit they should aware about hard fact. The challenge: no obvious reason for them to reduce price while increasing amenities as demand still strong for H and T models. Only in Malaysia this thing prevail. WE, supposed to gradually reduce our car price before 2010 but nobody remember that in 2006 price higher than 2007 but after 2007 price never down but increase for Civic though a little.

AGREE, toyota & Honda malaysia are both smart!!!!!! what they have been offer are over price!! Their cars are not CBU but CKD..rite? but their salesman will never mentioned that word!

..[/quote]

the new altis and camry are both CBU from thai. yaris from japan. rush from indonesia the only CKDs are vios, hiace, innova, fortuner and hilux. avanza is assembled at perodua sharing some colours with myvi/viva.

honda city is from thai. stream from japan. previous honda stream also from indonesia. jazz from japan

[quote comment="242150"]will it available in Malaysia?! any news about latest toyota prius in malaysia?[/quote] expect the 3rd gen prius to enter our market towards end of this year. a bit pricey though. [quote comment="242171"]No overdrive?[/quote] the fourth gear is an overdrive. overdrive means the gear ratio is below 1.000 for altis if not mistaken its 0.700. [quote comment="242276"] I don't think this would challange the civic 2.0. if you notice civic were 5AT, whereas altis still on 4AT (4 gear automatic transmition). So, i don't think this altis will sell well.[/quote] actually the altis power delivery is better than the the Honda due to the variable valve timing system is continuous. for Honda Civic it is not continuous but a 3 stage phasing (Low, Mid, High) therefore even with 4 speed the performance between Civic 1.8 and Altis 1.8 is not far off. Civic 1.8 is also a SOHC compare to DOHC in Altis. of course, for out and out performance, Civic has the edge.

Wow !!Cousts Mamammoth furniture wood lost and found in Altis …. Where's glass table glass …Ohh they use it for the front and rear windows ….where's the table pedestal …Ohh it's used for the gear knob lever .

But think the best 2.0 is mitsubishi Lancer since it is imported from Japan. I do found the CKD Civic 2.0 quality still not that good compare to Civic CKD in US. I think this is good, more choice to Malaysia buyer, but one thing sure, the car in Malaysia is still so much expensive compare to other countries.

the sad thing is, so many of you guys are totally unrealistic. sure, having so many gadgets and techno upgrades will surely make the Corolla so much more desirable…. heck man, I would sure like to have the full works i my car too! but this is real life and reality is different from fantasy. If it's based on fantasies, all cars on the road will have ABS, drilled carbon disc brakes, fully adjustable shocks, GPS, reverse cameras, 20 inch bling wheels, rear diffusers, leather seats, LED headlights, paddle shifters, etc, etc… but would you be able to afford it??

A Ford 2.0 Sport is so much better specs than this, Ford provide first class service better than Toyota and Honda and Proton or even Perodua. Still not many people buying due to worry on resale value (which is silly, cars are not assets).

It has nothing to do with the specs i guess, more like over priced-complacent-uninspired-dated design by Toyota before this. In this case for Altis, it might not work with just the brand it self. And the built quality was not the top notch as well, have a ride in Macau taxis should give you more clue.

>> Automatic headlights with automatic leveling turns on automatically as the vehicle moves into dark area and automatically adjusts headlight height according to the road inclination (2.0 Navi and 2.0V)

>> Rear spoiler with LED type third brake light for added safety (2.0 Navi and 2.0V)

I am not young but I will not buy this ugly looking 4-speed car. And I am not keen to buy Camry either although I can afford it unless the G-spec is 5-speed. The 2.4 variant is overpriced also. Better buy Accord.

here in the Philippines, that new Altis reigned the compact segment for some time. after all, Civic continued to lead the C-segment and still sells like hotcakes. the problem with this generation of Altis is that it is trying hard to match a luxury car even though it is meant for that kind.

In terms of tranmission, i don't really feel any advantage from the civic 2.0 5 speed gearbox. Yes, the Civic's acceleration still as fast as previous generation, but the new altis also give a very fast respond in acceleration once you step a bit on the throttle.

In terms of reliability and driving smoothness, this is the major factor why those uncle choose toyota over honda. No doubt the sound proof, suspension in my new altis is far more better than my 1 yr old civic, although most of you would say toyota use cheap beam, lousy material……, etc.

Right now my father not even want to step in the poor honda civic anymore. he is deeply "fall in love" with his "mistress" altis.

Hope you guys before make comments, PLEASE do get a test drive first, DO NOT SIMPLY CRITISIZE BASE ON SPEC OR PHOTOS……

One more thing, many ppls down here always critised malaysian always care about their car re-sale value. I think most of you guys never really feel the pain yet. Last yr when my father wanted to trade in his kia spectra (bought in 2004) to buy the civic, he still need to pay RM7k to settle the car loan! Not even mention he completely lost his RM30k downpayment and monthly installment down the yrs……..

I just talking about the facts down here, and people already start to critisize me like a crying baby sitting beside my dad…… Why people down here always lost the their cool when discussion come to toyota, honda? Why people always critisize UMW toyota or Honda Malaysia give us cheap material and yet they still buy the cars? In this bolehland, we have no choice but to accept the fact: "PROTON, PERODUA, HONDA & TOYOTA ARE THE ONLY CHOICE FOR MOST OF MALAYSIAN"

Guess some of us are not so lucky to have both T & H on our porch i guess. LOL.

Anyway – look further from daddy's porch and you'll see that both big brother jap's models in neighboring countries enjoy higher specs at a lower price. Yeah – blame it on government policies all you want but at least try to comprehend this – if a Continental CKD can be sold at sub 110k (308?) with incredulous specs, why not the japs? Even the Koreans are coming up with very good models & value for money!

I do agree – after sales, spare parts, maintenance, resale value etc. will all be in the ecosystem of any brand/model/make – irregardless! Some have built up their names through the years and are able to command a hefty *ahem* margin on this ground – and slowly strip their offerings down model after model – shucks – those malaysians are suckers! Let's reuse the engine, do a facelift, launch as a new model and see if it sells! Oh yeah, let's strip off the leather, less wood trimmings more plastics etc. as we go. OMG!! It does SELL !!

Why not? We're so gullible we stand back and preach "THEY ARE THE ONLY CHOICE! ACCEPT THE FACT! ACCEPT!" It's wonderful what hefty advertising dollars can do for your business.

I don't know about you, but I find this sad. I don't own any of the makes you suggest. Open your mind and explore – I'm sure you'll realise there's plenty of "NO 2nd hand value" brand/models that you'll learn to enjoy. TIP : Try Koreans as well – they're picking up real fast!

Well said grazer:) i'm now looking at honda civic, toyota altis, mazda 3 and peugeot 308. So far 308 is my personal choice coz of top safety features, specs, moonroof (actually tats a bonus) and is a continental although have been strongly advised on poor resale value, exp parts, unknown reliability, poor aftersales service by colleagues, friends and wife. No wonder other cars cant sell. We claimed we love cars that are cool but when comes to getting one, we'll go get the safest choice. I admit i was 'burned' in terms of resale value when i got myself hyundai elantra in 1996 but i enjoyed my drive while i had it. After proton waja and now myvi, i've to think of a safe car for my new born daughter.

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